Kyoto University Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. ῐῐ,No.῏, December ῎ῌῌῒ The Rise and Fall of the Tribal Research Institute (TRI): “Hill Tribe” Policy and Studies in Thailandῌ Kwanchewan BJ696:C<ῌῌ Abstract The Tribal Research Center/Institute (TRI) was inaugurated in ῍῕ῒῑ and dissolved by the Thai government Bureaucratic Reform Act in ῎ῌῌ῎. This paper discusses the rise and fall of the TRI by showing that the TRI has come from the need of the Thai government, with the support from foreign agencies, to have an “advisory and training” center to deal with “hill tribe problems,” in the context where few ethnic studies institutes and researchers existed. TRI had actively served its mother organizations by providing them necessary information and recommendation for the monitoring, evaluation and improvement of the government and highland development projects, while its resource center and experts had served academic society for many decades. In ῎ῌῌῌs, when “hill tribe problems” have diminished: communist operation stopped, opium cultivation reduced and hill tribes were seemingly well integrated into Thai society, the government no longer needed to maintain its focus on the hill tribes and related organizations. The TRI’s role was terminated without any proper handing over of its human and other resources to the right institute. Unlike ῐῌ years ago, however, now ethnic studies institutes and especially ethnic own organizations and communities have grown up to take care of their problems, arising from government policy and modernization, by carrying out ethnic studies and development by their own. Keywords: Tribal Research Institute (TRI), Thai government, Northern Thailand, “hill tribe problems,” hill tribes, highland development, ethnic studies Researchers and students who have studied the “hill tribes” in Northern Thailand over the last four decades have usually known of the Tribal Research Institute (TRI). I still remember going there for the first time in ῍῕῔ΐ to look for books and materials in the library. As my M. A. research was on the Karen, I also sought advice from the TRI researchers, each of whom was trained as a specialist of a “tribe.” I met the late Khun Prawit Phothiart, a Karen research specialist, who gave me a non-stop lecture on Karen socio-economic and cultural characteristics for almost three hours. I really admired his vast knowledge and deep understanding concerning Karen. I returned again to give my thesis to the TRI library, to acknowledge the support of the TRI and to enable my thesis ῌ A paper presented at the Ninth International Conference on Thai Studies, ῏῍ῒ April ῎ῌῌῑ, Northern Illinois University, USA. ῌῌ Social Research Institute, Chiang Mai University, ῎῏῕ Huai Kaew Road, Tambon Suthep, Muang District, Chiang Mai ῑῌ῎ῌῌ, Thailand (Visiting Research Fellow, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, from October ῎ῌῌῒ to March ῎ῌῌΐ) e-mail: srxxoῌ῍῎ ῌchiangmai.ac.th 359 NII-Electronic Library Service Kyoto University ΐ῔῍῎῍ῑῐ ῐῐ῏ ῏ ῒ to be of use to the many researchers who continued to visit. The TRI was located on the grounds of Chiang Mai University and this often led to the misunderstanding that it also belonged to the university. In fact, it came under the auspices of the Ministry of the Interior since it was set up as the Tribal Research Center (TRC) in ῍῔ῒῑ, and only upgraded to institute level in ῍῔ΐῐ.In῍῔῔῏ it was moved into the Ministry for Labour and Social Welfare and then in ῎ῌῌ῎ it was dissolved, by the Bureaucratic Reform Act.῍) The dissolution of the TRI was done with less notice from the public. Unlike the grand inauguration day on October ῎῍, ῍῔ῒῑ, when the Deputy Minister of Interior with high-rank foreign and Thai guests joyfully joined the ceremony, the closing day was done quietly but in a hectic way. Chiang Mai University asked TRI officers to move out as quickly as possible so they could start demolishing the TRI buildings to give way to new school buildings. Researchers who still remained had difficulty moving more than ῎ῌ῕ῌῌῌ books, research papers, dissertations, journals, pamphlets and newsletters which were kept in the library. There are also valuable archives which included about ΐ῍ reels of ῍ῒ mm films, videos, ῏ῌῌ black-and-white photos and more than ῎῕ῌῌῌ colour photo- graphs and slides [The Nation April ῍῏, ῎ῌῌῐ]. Clearly, there were no plans after the TRI was dissolved for these resources, nor for the researchers with their vast knowledge and life-long experiences of “hill tribe” research. A few researchers asked to be allowed to further work at the Tribal Museum and to continue giving library service. Most researchers however had to be transferred elsewhere to a new job, irrelevant to their past experiences, under yet another ministry, the Ministry for Social Development and Human Security. The TRI seems to be passé now. But how can it be that an institution of high standing over many decades, is now of no value? After studying conditions pertaining to the rise and fall of the TRC, I would explain that the TRC was created in the specific cold war situation when very few research institutions interested in conducting ethnic studies existed. It was actually the convergence of the need and interest of the three parties, namely the Thai state, foreign funding agencies and foreign academicians, who believed in the “applied research” paradigm. The Thai state with the support from the US had seen the “hill tribes” to be increasing threats or “problems” for Thai society because of their opium cultivation and susceptibility to communist mobilization, so they adopted the TRC as a research and development tool to deal with the “hill tribe problems.” Although the problems of communism and opium cultivation were essentially resolved in the ῍῔ΐῌs, the Thai government has continued to make use of the TRI until it is basically sure that the “hill tribes” have been integrated well into Thai society, until the day when they no longer saw any need for research to be conducted specifically on the “hill tribes,” leading to the end of the TRI. Although the TRI had actively played an ῍ῌ The ῎ῌῌ῎ Bureaucratic Reform Act is another attempt to adjust the government structure to reduce the cost, reduce the work redundancy and increase the work efficiency. 360 NII-Electronic Library Service Kyoto University K. BJ696:C< : The Rise and Fall of the Tribal Research Institute (TRI) academic role, serving as a resource center, giving advice on hill tribe research etc. for many years, this cannot be a strong argument for its continuation because the TRC/TRI was under implementing sectoral agencies, which have no academic mandate, while in the last two decades, ethnic research and development has been increasingly taken care of by many academic and non-govenmental ethnic organizations. This paper discusses conditions which contribute to the rise and fall of the TRC/TRI. By doing so, it will reveal the development of Thai government’s evolving policy on the “hill tribes” and the state of ethnic studies in Thailand on which the TRC/TRI depended. I am aware of the negative connotation of the term “hill tribes” for it is often used in connection with the word “problems,” thus “hill tribe problems,” which blames the “hill tribes” for many large problems that occurred in Thailand in the last half a century. However, the term “hill tribes” is still used in this paper, henceforth without quotation, to refer to specific groups classified and targeted for research and development by the Thai government until the beginning of the ῎ῌῌῌs. The paper will first describe the political, administrative and academic context before the emergence of the TRC, then TRC/TRI’s subsequent role and its termination ῏ΐ years after its inauguration during which time the context of ethnic research and development has dramatically changed. Hill Tribes Policy and Research before the Emergence of the TRC In the ῍῕ῑῌs, the political situation in Southeast Asia came to a turning point. China’s change to a Socialist country and the support its Communist Party gave to many Communist Parties in Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar, had caused alarm and concern to the Thai government and the United States. As explained in a ῍῕ῒῑ USAID document cited by Wakin [῍῕῕῎: ῍῍῔], Thailand is currently of enourmous strategic importance in terms of U. S. national interests: ῍ ῌ Thailand is located in the midst of the all-out struggle between the Free World and Communist Forces in Southeast Asia. ῎ ῌ Thailand is formally committed to the side of the Free World despite its perilous location. Within this changing context and with financial support from the US, the Thai government started to pay attention and focus its operation on hill peoples.῎) It sets up a “Committee to Give Welfare to People far from Road Access” ( prachachon klai khamana- khom)in῍῕ῑ῍, to oversee hill peoples in remote areas around the frontiers of Northern Thailand [Thailand, Hill Tribe Welfare Division ῎ῌῌ῎]. The Border Patrol Police (BPP) was ῎῍ It is also at the time that “aid for development” was provided to the “Third World” by US agencies on the assumption, widely accepted in the early ῍῕ῑῌs, that “if poor countries were not rescued from their poverty, they would succumb to communism” [Escobar ῍῕῕ῑ: ῏ῐ]. 361 NII-Electronic Library Service Kyoto University ΐ῔῍῎῍ῑῐ ῐῐ῏ ῏ ῒ created by the CIA in the early ῍῕ῑῌs and was later supported by the US Office of Public Safety (OPS) and US Agency for International Development (USAID) in paramilitary, intelligence gathering, development, and other operations [Wakin ῍῕῕῎: ῍῎ῌ]. It started operating in the border areas in ῍῕ῑῑ to establish schools and distribute some medical and agricultural equipment to the hill peoples.